Labour’s failure to stop small boats means taxpayers will spend £1.4 billion more on asylum , including hotels and other accommodation, the Treasury’s official watchdog has warned. Chancellor Rachel Reeves had pledged to cut asylum spending by £1 billion, but this was dismissed as a fantasy in the analysis of her Budget statement. The Office for Budget Responsibility said the number of small boat arrivals, and the number of asylum seekers in housing, had risen.

It said: “The Home Office Spending Review settlement was made on the basis that the Home Office would fully stop the use of hotels for asylum-seekers in this Parliament, and asylum spending would be £1.1 billion lower at £2.5 billion in 2028-29 compared to 2025-26 plans. So far this year, the number of migrants arriving by sm

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